Into Sixes

Ohio power-pop outfit Connections have garnered a few comparisons to Guided by Voices, and they're proving similarly prolific. Their third album in two years faces the challenge of maintaining their established consistency.

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If you've read about Connections, you've probably seen them compared to Guided By Voices. There are a few reasons for that: both hail from Ohio, Connections' particular brand of rock'n'roll bears a resemblance to Robert Pollard's, and even though they're a fairly new band, they're proving themselves to be similarly prolific. But no prolific band emerges from a vacuum. Connections' Kevin Elliott and Andy Hampel were in 84 Nash (and released albums on Pollard's label Rockathon) starting in 1995; that band broke up around 2005, and five years later, the two guys started hanging out again, recording songs together in a Columbus basement.

Their rekindled partnership apparently ignited a particularly fruitful period of songwriting. Along with Elliott's brother Adam (who also drums in Times New Viking), Dave Capaldi (from El Jesus de Magico), and Philip Kim, they released two very good albums last year—Private Airplane and Body Language—as well as the Tough City EP. Now, there's Into Sixes, their latest record which was recorded (and pressed) at Columbus' legendary Musicol Recording Studio. The challenge for this one, then, is to at least maintain the same consistency they brought for their first two albums while hopefully churning out at least one song as satisfying and immediate as, say, "Mall Lights".

And there's at least one such highlight: "Beat the Sky", a power pop gem that ebbs and flows for maximum impact. There are direct, fuzzy power chords, which occasionally pull back and give way to a beautiful, elegant central melody. As a whole, the album doesn't sound expensive or lush, but Into Sixes is thoughtfully produced regardless, and the no-frills recording quality brings forward whichever instrument is doing the most exciting work in a given moment. Solos frequently swoop in and breathe new life into a song just as it nears over-repetition.

Most of Into Sixes' biggest successes are its most powerful moments—it's tough to beat the beefed up Twilley/Seymour/Exploding Hearts-style churn of "Cruise Control"—but Connections also excel at slowing things down. Teardrop-ballad "Home by the Sea" starts out slow and mournful before bolstering the sound and introducing some optimism, singing "It'll be OK" while ushering in another well-placed guitar solo in the process. It's hard to imagine a better ending to this record, too, than the upbeat, jangling acoustic closer "Awesome Beach", with bittersweet sentiments that are executed beautifully: "I can't hold you/ My arms are on fire."

There's plenty on Into Sixes to suggest that Connections are one of the best new power-pop bands going, but the band occasionally falters, too. "Minister of Ah Ah Ah"'s structure feels rote and unvarying, with not much to break up the handclaps and blurted vowel sounds. The band's slower moments risk losing momentum, too: the start of "Extremely Boss" is a bit clunky, but they thankfully pivot away into a direction that possesses more energy and drive. In that way, Connections are a resilient band, one with a seemingly effortless knack for writing and arranging a dozen great songs every few months. They aren't show-offs, but they do what they do expertly.